Time to talk another idiot down - Why shouldn't I buy an Esprit

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/2636019674.html

It needs help, but I wouldn't know what to do with a car that didn't. I haven't priced a new windshield yet, but I'm sure it would cost me an arm and a leg. The wheels are hideous and it's surely been abused, but it supposedly runs without issue. It would need the cam belt and I'm sure that's an ordeal.

The fragile transmissions scare me, but how much should they really?

I've wanted an Esprit since I was 3 or 4 years old. Tell me why fulfilling that dream at 20 years old is a horribly stupid idea.

It's yellow, and the front plate reads "PITBULL".

I've always wanted a yellow Lotus.

But not this one.

(This from a guy who has gone to check out Esprits that have burned...)

Go check it out at least.

In reply to Rusted_Busted_Spit:

It's halfway across the country. I'm trying to find out if someone I know out there might be able to at least go see it in person for me.

LS swap? LOL

If the body/chassis is good, it can be turned into whatever you want.

Assume it has had zero maintenance and has hat the holy hell beat out of it for the last 19 years... Knowing that, if it is priced right, I see no reason not to at least give it a look.

fulfill your dream but wait for the right car. Otherwise your dream becomes a nightmare.

you only live once man. buy the lotus.

Seems cheap. I'm guessing a very hard 28k. Nicer ones will double the price which is entirely possible to be cheaper than this one in the long run. Then again LSx and junkyard Audi transaxles could keep it going a long time on the cheap

oldtin wrote: Seems cheap. I'm guessing a very hard 28k. Nicer ones will double the price which is entirely possible to be cheaper than this one in the long run. Then again LSx and junkyard Audi transaxles could keep it going a long time on the cheap

That's what I was saying...

From another person who has lusted after the Esprit since I can remember, I would have to think twice about this car.

The "Pit Bull" tag is of great concern when I think of the people I know that would put something like that on the front of their car.

Good luck and keep shopping.

Paul B

Did I read correctly that you are 20 years old?
Would this be your only transport?
What kind of financial reserves to you have for maintenance after purchase? It will surely need some investments.
What are your mechanical capabilities? Will you have a place, tools and skill to work on this yourself? Paying for Lotus specific work is likely expensive.

It should be telling that on a forum of enabalers who normaly talk people into things worse than a crack dealer, people are voicing warnings over this car.

Scam. That's an $18K car at a minimum. No phone number.

jrw1621 wrote: Did I read correctly that you are 20 years old? Would this be your only transport? What kind of financial reserves to you have for maintenance after purchase? It will surely need some investments. What are your mechanical capabilities? Will you have a place, tools and skill to work on this yourself? Paying for Lotus specific work is likely expensive.

Yep, 20 years old. Have the money money for a much nicer one, but I've never spent that money in one go except when I was paying college tuition.

I'm used to a E36 M3ty MGB as transportation and before that it was a E36 M3ty XJ40 so I'm not terribly hung up on reliability when I buy cars. I'm looking at another 5 months before there's an opening at for me at MCRD, Parris Island, which I imagine would be plenty of time to sort an Esprit's issues out. That said, I've never turned a wrench on that car and I'm not sure what the lead time on parts is.

Dr. Hess, I know it should go for way more than he's asking. That's what had me worried. I'll keep looking.

In reply to Dr. Hess:

Any hints on what to look for in the cars aside from the obvious? I seem to recall reading that yours was off the road for quite a long while while you did maintenance?

Lotus's are really expensive to maintain.

It's British.

It's yellow.

The vanity plate.

The wheels look super gaudy which is always a bad sign.

Esprit's can be had pretty cheaply but usually in the older generations.

With that said I'd offer him 6k cash and expect to do a lot of work to the car myself. Don't expect anything to work/be as he says.

that's cheap...even if it's been beat to hell. It's worth checking into it a little further for sure.

Here's another in Maine. I think I can also tell you where to find an earlier one that had an engine fire for Challenge money in Connecticut

2 1975 Triumph Spitfire1500's - $1500 (Eliot) Date: 2011-09-15, 10:52AM EDT Reply to: sale-sknz2-2586865355@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] I currently have for sale two Spitfires.

One runs is registered and inspect able, but needs a clutch The other hasn't been on the road since 1988

Willing to sell all, one or some of the parts I have. Blue one $3500 obo. Red one $1500 obo Also have 1987 Lotus Turbo Esprit Needs full engine rebuild, has been sitting 10yrs $10,000

Location: Eliot
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

image 0 image 1

PostingID: 2586865355

If you want an Esprit, get the newest one you can afford and look for one that has been properly maintained. Yeah, mine was down for 9 months for "routine" maintenance. Timing belt and valve adjustment is a royal PITA. Both can be done with the motor in the car, but I think it's easier to pull it. Transmissions can be fragile. Especially on an SE that can put down >300 HP on a dyno with a chip and a tune up basically. Windshields are not unobtainium, but look to spend a grand on one as a guestimate. Gas tanks all rust and need to be addressed/replaced. SE's seem to eat charge cooler impellers. All seem to eat batteries. 88 and back EFI cars are Bosch injection, which needs to be tuned/diagnosed by Caribbean Witch Doctors equipped with chicken bones and turtle rattles.

Blow the timing belt and the motor is trash. Very expensive to repair. Exhaust manifolds all crack. That's another grand.

And I will again say, regarding that CL ad, "scam." Send him an email and post what comes back.

If you really want an Esprit, join the yahoo turboesprit mailing list and wait for people posting. Also look to spend a lot more than 8. You might get a driveable G car (up to 1987) for 8, but US cars up to 1988 have a Citroen gear box that is even weaker than the Renault gear box (89 up) and all seem to eventually eat the crown and pinions, which are now unobtainium. A Dutch guy has cornered the market on used Citroen C/P's, and fortunately he is a good guy and doesn't rip people off.

My understanding is that the Esprit owners' club has a fire marshall. That concerns me. I am not kidding.

Dr. Hess wrote: If you want an Esprit, get the newest one you can afford and look for one that has been properly maintained. Yeah, mine was down for 9 months for "routine" maintenance. Timing belt and valve adjustment is a royal PITA. Both can be done with the motor in the car, but I think it's easier to pull it. Transmissions can be fragile. Especially on an SE that can put down >300 HP on a dyno with a chip and a tune up basically. Windshields are not unobtainium, but look to spend a grand on one as a guestimate. Gas tanks all rust and need to be addressed/replaced. SE's seem to eat charge cooler impellers. All seem to eat batteries. 88 and back EFI cars are Bosch injection, which needs to be tuned/diagnosed by Caribbean Witch Doctors equipped with chicken bones and turtle rattles. Blow the timing belt and the motor is trash. Very expensive to repair. Exhaust manifolds all crack. That's another grand. And I will again say, regarding that CL ad, "scam." Send him an email and post what comes back. If you really want an Esprit, join the yahoo turboesprit mailing list and wait for people posting. Also look to spend a lot more than 8. You might get a driveable G car (up to 1987) for 8, but US cars up to 1988 have a Citroen gear box that is even weaker than the Renault gear box (89 up) and all seem to eventually eat the crown and pinions, which are now unobtainium. A Dutch guy has cornered the market on used Citroen C/P's, and fortunately he is a good guy and doesn't rip people off.

I want an S4, and everything you're saying seems to reaffirm that's the way to go. I've been looking at cars that are anywhere from 18 to 25. I'd be a lot more comfortable buying something toward the lower end of that range which puts me in a Stevens car rather than a Thomson.

I've read that converting the charge cooler to an electric pump is a worthwhile modification. I was wondering if you you had any thoughts on that. Is there a thread on here somewhere documenting your Esprit? What else went into that routine maintenance that kept it down for 9 months? What would it take for you to trust it as your primary means of transportation?

Thanks for the recommendation of the yahoo list. I'll do that.

The electric charge cooler mod is popular. I know a guy that sells kits. If I had a chargecooler, I'd go that route. I think the S4s came with an electric pump. Or maybe that was an electric vacuum pump.

You don't want a "cheap" Esprit. There's not much more expensive, except maybe a cheap Porsche.

As for my maintenance, I pulled the drivetrain and did a new spigot bearing (clutch job), timing belt, adjust the cams (you have to pull the top of the motor off), new engine seals, AC lines, AC compressor/expansion valve/drier, Green Dot (104 MOP) pulleys, coated the gas tanks with truck bed liner, sealed the quarter windows, new parking brake cable, fixed the parking brake light switch, cleaned the radiator, recovered the seats, coated the shift cables, hoses and more I can't think of right now. You know, "routine" maintenance. I don't know if there's a single thread here. I probably posted pics of my seats, etc. in some posts.

While there are some people that do DD an Esprit, really, they are just not the DD type of car. And I daily drove a Europa once. Keep in mind that an Esprit is the most difficult to work on car I've ever come across. Before I bought this car, I never had a need to buy a mirror on a stick or stubby combination wrenches. I still have an area of pigmented scar tissue on my hand and arm from fighting with one water pump hose 3 months ago. That single hose took me 8 hours to put on. One hose. It is also the hardest car to drive on the street, but the easiest to drive hard, like on a race track, in my experience. It's like Takumi discovers after Bunta did the mods to the eight-six with the silvertop. The harder you push it, the easier it is to drive. But, you can't drive on the street like that, or at least not for long.

This one is interesting

http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/lotus/1248738625/1248738625ss.htm

1978 Lotus Esprit S2 Road Car

Condition: Needs Work Price: US $14,900.oo Currency_Convert
Location: Smith, NV. USA

This listing has been viewed 21019 times.

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Description This car was built in the late 1970's for an attempt at the 24 hour at Datona in the early 1980's. The car was never actually raced and has been in storage ever since. The engine was turned over a few months ago just to see if it would. There was no attempt to start it. The car was driven into the shop and shut off. I would think that the fuel lines and seals would need replacing. It comes with some extra body parts. The body, paint are in pretty good condition. We believe the car could run in vintage classes, enduros or????

Spares none

Dr. Hess wrote: The electric charge cooler mod is popular. I know a guy that sells kits. If I had a chargecooler, I'd go that route. I think the S4s came with an electric pump. Or maybe that was an electric vacuum pump. You don't want a "cheap" Esprit. There's not much more expensive, except maybe a cheap Porsche. As for my maintenance, I pulled the drivetrain and did a new spigot bearing (clutch job), timing belt, adjust the cams (you have to pull the top of the motor off), new engine seals, AC lines, AC compressor/expansion valve/drier, Green Dot (104 MOP) pulleys, coated the gas tanks with truck bed liner, sealed the quarter windows, new parking brake cable, fixed the parking brake light switch, cleaned the radiator, recovered the seats, coated the shift cables, hoses and more I can't think of right now. You know, "routine" maintenance. I don't know if there's a single thread here. I probably posted pics of my seats, etc. in some posts. While there are some people that do DD an Esprit, really, they are just not the DD type of car. And I daily drove a Europa once. Keep in mind that an Esprit is the most difficult to work on car I've ever come across. Before I bought this car, I never had a need to buy a mirror on a stick or stubby combination wrenches. I still have an area of pigmented scar tissue on my hand and arm from fighting with one water pump hose 3 months ago. That single hose took me 8 hours to put on. One hose. It is also the hardest car to drive on the street, but the easiest to drive hard, like on a race track, in my experience. It's like Takumi discovers after Bunta did the mods to the eight-six with the silvertop. The harder you push it, the easier it is to drive. But, you can't drive on the street like that, or at least not for long.

DD would kind of be a misnomer in my case, but I guess I still need to drive one to be sure. I know that owning an Esprit isn't the most logically choice in the world, I already have the stubby wrenched and mirror on a stick.

I take it that the packaging in one of the bigger stuggles while you're working on them?

I'm pretty sure that there stuff about a Toyota was an Initial D reference., which explains why it went way over my head.

I really appreciate the information. Thank you.